Why Pre-Made Pizza Doughs And Bases Are On The Rise

KEY INSIGHTS

• Readymade products and ingredients can cut down on prep time and labour costs and free up your staff for other tasks 
• Even if you usually make your pizza dough from scratch, stocking up on pre-made options gives greater flexibility and more options for menu differentiation 
• New-generation pre-made doughs and bases make portion control and inventory management easier while helping to reduce wastage and maximise cost efficiency 
• Innovation in this space includes slow-fermented dough balls, par-baked bases, artisan style bases such as sourdough and gluten free bases 

With lockdowns now likely a thing of the past as the market opens up once again, foodservice professionals – particularly those in Melbourne and Sydney – are breathing a collective sigh of relief as they welcome customers back to dine-in.

This brings a fresh set of challenges – at the top of the list, coping with the staff shortages caused by the exodus of casual workers from the industry over the past 12 months; and being able to accurately estimate ingredients requirements from one day to the next, in an environment which has played havoc with the usual consumer dining habits and made it difficult to judge how many bookings one is likely to have even during peak periods.

One thing we’ve all learnt over the past months is the need to adapt quickly to changing circumstances and to ensure backup plans and products are in place when needed. This has led many foodservice professionals to take a fresh look at readymade products and ingredients which can be used either in place of from-scratch preparation – thereby cutting down on prep time and labour costs and freeing up your reduced staff for other tasks – or as a backup when it turns out you’ve under-estimated customer demand.

Pre-made pizza doughs and bases are a case in point. Even if you usually make your pizza dough from scratch, stocking up on pre-made doughs and bases in these uncertain times will give you greater flexibility and more options for menu differentiation.

For many operators, the new generation of pre-made doughs and bases have proven sufficiently high quality to switch over to them entirely. The benefits are obvious: a good quality pre-made dough or base will save you labour and prep time, make portion control and inventory management easier, and help reduce wastage while maximising cost efficiency. And with so many businesses operating in smaller footprint kitchens, not having to devote a prep area to making dough from scratch can save you a lot of space.

There’s been a lot of innovation in this space in recent times, with the rise of slow-fermented, easy stretch dough balls one of the major trends to hit the market. These new generation pizza doughs are typically made fresh, then snap-frozen to seal in flavour and ensure quality isn’t compromised prior to delivery to your business. The best of them are created in the authentic Napoli pizza dough tradition and boast a light, fluffy texture. As the dough comes pre-fermented and frozen, it only requires thawing and proofing before rolling out or hand-stretching and baking. The extended fermentation period (compared to from-scratch production) typically imparts more strength to the dough and improves flavour, texture and aroma while also delivering a nicely blistering crust once cooked.

Be sure to check the ingredients list – the best quality dough balls are made from 100 per cent Australian flour with all natural ingredients. Avoid products with flavour enhancers, hydrogenated fats and environmentally-unfriendly ingredients such as palm oil.

And as these dough balls typically have a frozen shelf life of 12 months, they’re an ideal backup for businesses who usually make their own dough from scratch – simply store them in the freezer or coolroom until needed. Once thawed they will keep refrigerated for around four days as long as they’re packaged in an airtight container.

Par-baked pizza bases are a variant of the above with the dough hand-stretched and then stone baked and are a good choice when you want a crispier finish for your pizzas. As they’ve already been cooked once, putting them through the oven a second time with the toppings on gives them a very crisp, toasty presentation similar to what you’d get from a traditional woodfired pizza oven. They typically come with a light covering of olive oil to ensure absorbency and are also available pre-sauced with a tomato sugo. Again, they typically have a frozen shelf life of up to 12 months and there’s no need to thaw them before baking.

Artisan style pizza bases, such as those made with Sourdough, have become increasingly popular on the menu in recent times. Sourdough tends to deliver a thicker crust, richer flavour and distinctive aroma as each base bakes to a golden-brown finish with a nice crunchy mouthfeel, making them the perfect complement to a quality pizza cheese like Perfect Italiano Mozzarella and the pizza toppings of your choice.

Gluten free pizza bases are typically made from a blend of gluten free flours such as rice and potato flour and are prepared to strict quality control standards as per the Australian Food Standards Code which requires them to contain no detectable gluten even under laboratory conditions. For this reason, gluten free bases are often packaged with each base sitting on a sheet of baking paper or an aluminium tray to make handling easier and protect against cross-contamination from your kitchen surfaces.

As a complement to the above, you might also consider Piadina as a means of further menu differentiation. This Italian style flatbread is trending on pub, club and pizzeria menus and is ideal for Italian, vegetarian and Mediterranean style cuisine. Simply fill with cured smallgoods, salads, vegetables, roasted meat and cheeses to broaden your menu offering. The usual sizes are 7” and 9” and it can be quickly thawed from frozen, then filled and quickly cooked in a sandwich press or pizza oven until golden brown.

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